The Glass Roses

1
The Glass Roses

• Alden Nowlan

2
Alden Nowlan

• In 1933, Alden Nowlan was born into rural poverty
  in Stanley, Nova Scotia, adjacent to Mosherville,
  and close to the small town of Windsor, Nova
  Scotia, along a stretch of dirt road that he
  would later refer to as Desolation Creek. His
  father, Gordon Freeman Nowlan, worked
  sporadically as a manual labourer.
• His mother, Grace Reese, was only 15 years of age
  when Nowlan was born, and she soon left the
  family, leaving Alden and her younger daughter
  Harriet to the care of their paternal
  grandmother.
• The family believed that education as a waste of
  time, and Nowlan left school after only four
  grades. At the age of 14, he went to work in the
  village sawmill.

3
Alden Nowlan

• At the age of 16, Nowlan discovered the regional
  library. Each weekend he would walk or hitchhike
  eighteen miles to the library to get books, and
  secretly began to educate himself.
• At the age of 19, Nowlan's started working at
  Observer, a newspaper in Hartland, New Brunswick.
  While working at the Observer, Nowlan began
  writing books of poetry.
• Nowlan eventually settled permanently in New
  Brunswick. In 1963, he married Claudine Orser, a
  typesetter on his former paper, and moved to
  Saint John with her and her son, John, whom he
  adopted.
• He became the night editor for the Saint John
  Telegraph Journal and continued to write poetry.
• In 1966, Nowlan was diagnosed with throat cancer.
  His health forced him to give up his job, but at
  the same time the University of New Brunswick in
  Fredericton offered him the position of
  Writer-in-Residence.
• He remained in the position until his death on
  June 27, 1983.

4
Characters - Stephen

• Stephen associates being a man with the
  characteristics that his father has modeled.
• He doesnt want to be like his father, but he
  wants to be recognized as a man.
• Realizes that his father has been affected by the
  war, but Leka has as well, and yet, they both
  have differing end results.

5
Characters - Leka

• Nowlan describes him as a Ukrainian second world
  war refugee, who has come to New Brunswick to
  work in the pulp woods.
• He is paired with a boy, who is the son of the
  foreman.
• The woodsmen think he is from Poland and call him
  a Polack.
• He is a man whose heart is constantly warmed by
  the memory of the culture he once beheld
  cathedrals, castles, cavalrymen and whose
  dreams are racked by the spectre of its
  destruction.
• He constantly faces fear
• When Leka is awake, he is persecuted due to his
  differences.
• His nightmares remind him of what he endured
  during the war. They remind him that he wanted to
  die that he had given up.

6
Stephens Father vs. Leka
Father Leka
Hard/rough Hard worker/strong Demanding Unemotional Judgmental/Afraid of different people Lacks compassion Physically weaker Finesse/fragile Friendly Emotional/sentimental Open-minded Respect for nature Man of religion Kind and compassionate
7
Symbols

• Glass Roses
• They are valuable, yet fragile and beautiful.
• They represent all that is innocent and
  wonderful, but can easily be broken by others.
• The Axe
• Represents the strength and respect.
• It is what holds Leka and Stephen back from being
  recognized as men.
• The Cathedral
• They represent a world he once knew and valued.
• They provide Leka and Stephen with a point of
  discussion that most men would not share with
  each other.

8
Themes

• Search for Identity Stephen is oscillating
  between what kind of man he wants to become.
• Illusion vs. Reality This could be explored on a
  few levels
• How the men view their relationship vs. how
  Stephen and Leka view their connection.
• What most people believe to be masculine
  characteristics and what really makes a strong
  man.
• Individuality vs. Conformity For Stephen to be
  accepted by his father and the other men, or for
  him to stand on his own and make the choices.